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March 29, 2012

While I was locked out of my blogger account I put my free time to good use. No really I did. I missed a lot of covers between December to now!! I’ve tracked them all down and now I’m ready to share them with you.

So it’s a mixture of old and new releases. Since it’s a huge—and boy do I mean HUGE—amount of covers I’m going to do 20-30 at a time.

To speed up the process I won’t be doing the regular format. I will however link them to Amazon and Goodreads.

March 26, 2012

Twin witches Graylee and Charlene Perez agree on one rule: No dating warlocks.

Not so easy when a certain rogue warlock is convinced he and Graylee belong together and will use anything, including magic, to try and impress Gray. When Charlene’s boyfriend dumps her, she threatens to kill either herself or the girl who stole Blake. Somehow, Gray ends up dead.

A Resurrection Spell Gone Wrong:

Two months after dying, Gray wakes up in Charlene’s body. As a witch, can anyone blame her mother for attempting to bring her daughter back to life? Only now Gray’s stuck sharing her sister’s body 50/50 in twenty-four hour shifts.

The race is on for Gray to find a way back inside her own body before Charlene purges her from existence. Raj McKenna is rumored to meddle in the black arts, not to mention he’s after Gray’s invisibility spell and worse – her heart. But Raj might be the only one powerful enough to save Gray from fading away forever.

Review:

Good YA books about witches are the white whales of the genre. It seems like when you pick up a YA title about witches you can expect huge bounds of silliness like The Sweep Series by Cate Tiernan, and the writing usually doesn’t get any better than the writing found in The House of Night series. So when I find a good one in that sea of muck, I’m beyond happy. Especially, when I get done reading it and think, “Holy cow!! That was awesome!”

Entangled starts off with teen angst right at the beginning when Graylee's sister, Charlene, is going to jump of the roof of the school because her boyfriend dumped her for another girl. When Charlene jumps instead of a gruesome death she simply floats to the ground below. The magic takes off right there and I love that it’s not all funky poems and weird chants. It’s more of a mind power, you know believe and you shall achieve. The teen drama in this book is tons of fun with twins Graylee—or just Gray—and Charlene. Just as Gray finds out her sister has been blocking her powers to undermine her confidence Gray wakes up the next morning to find out she died and woke up in her sister's body.

While I thought the mystery behind how Gray died was glaringly obvious, that's not the good stuff. The good stuff is watching Gray come into her magic and find out who her true friends are. Sure that sounds cheesy, but sometimes that is the hardest lesson in life. This book is about character growth and strength, a true treat for any reader.

Besides being an amazing new take on teen witches the romance is just refreshing. Awkward girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks, has always been a favorite ploy for romances. What's better is when the reader can watch the two see each other and develop feelings. I hate it when the two just gaze into each others eyes and it's instant magic. Speaking of bad boys, Raj is one dangerous leading man. What I loved even more was that the story is told not just buy Gray, buy Raj gets some running time. Let's just say by the end of the book I had a huge fictional crush on Raj. Almost big enough to rival my crush for Jace from The Mortal Instrument series.

Entangled is that rare book that is going to make you tape your eyes open to read into the ungodly hours of the night—that's just what Entangled is though. Sure, I will admit there were a couple rough spots, but this book comes close to flawless. The magic will prick your interest and then the characters will pull you in. Evil sisters, good boys that are bad, bad boys that are good, dark pasts, dark magic, wild . . . OK I'll stop. You get the point. This is one fantastic read and I highly recommend it.

Sexual Content: Charlene is quite the promiscuous little lady *cough-slut-cough* and Graylee has a pretty hot make out scene. There's sexual talk and humor, but nothing that will put readers on edge.

All right it's beyond time for a winner to be chosen for the amazing Entangled!!

(Yes, I still need to post my review and I should have that up by tonight!! Blogger has locked me out since March 13th!! Then I got sick and I wasn't fighting the good fight fast enough to get access to my account. *sigh* Enough about my drama, let's get on with what we're all waiting for!)

Drum roll . . .

Book Chatter Cath

is the lucky winner chosen by Random.org!

Big thanks to the wonderful Nikki Jefford for letting me host the giveaway!! Thanks to everyone who entered the contest!

March 12, 2012

It’s great to have another author interview here at Book Whispers! Especially since it’s the talented Nikki Jefford! I had the pleasure of reading her debut title Entangled and now am I huge fan! (Look for my review tomorrow!)

Shera (Book Whispers): In your own words, introduce yourself.

Nikki Jefford: Book addict and romance junkie stranded on San Juan Island (WA) with a fabulous Frenchman and wonderful Westie.

BW: Your book Entangled revolves around witches, I have to ask what are some of your favorite TV shows or books about witches?

NJ: For TV: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Growing up, Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle) sucked me into the world of fantasy and magic along with Matilda by Roald Dahl.

BW: Is there a plan in future books to have more than just witches in the storyline? Like vampires, werewolves, or some other crazy supernatural creatures?

NJ: The Spellbound series sticks to magic, but I have a vampire (slayer) series I’m releasing in the fall. It’s much darker than Spellbound and puts a new spin on how vampires originated. I had a beta reader compare it to Divergent when she read it last October. I’d never heard of Divergent so I read it (loved it!) and was honored by the comparison. Divergent raised the bar, which is why I’ve put aside the book for more editing.

BW: I loved the wicked sister approach to the storyline, especially since they’re twins. Was there a point when you were writing Entangled when you thought you’d gone too far?

NJ: Unfortunately, siblings can do some pretty horrendous things in real life. I’ll never forget when Amy March threw Jo’s manuscript into the fire in Little Women. I had a similar experience with my little sis, only she threw my first laptop on the floor. (At least in that case I only lost the laptop.)

When it came to the Perez twins, I stepped back and let them have at it. Some readers might be shocked when Gray wakes up from “the switch” in a boy’s bed, but that scene was a lot worse in my head. (I’ll spare you the details.)

BW: Are there plans for more books in the Entangled series past the second book?

NJ: Yes! There will be three books total and believe it or not they only get crazier.

BW: What are some of your favorite titles in the Urban Fantasy genre?

NJ: My favorite books at the moment combine action and adventure with the mystical. One of my favorite examples is Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I’m also enjoying the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. And, though nothing mystical is involved, I devoured The Hunger Games trilogy at the start of the year.

BW: When you're in a writing jam, is there a particular author you look to for inspiration? One that makes you ask, "What would ‘insert author's name here’ do?"

NJ: <laughs> I have the opposite problem: Too many ideas and not enough time. I’ve barely finished a novel before the next one starts writing itself in my head. Although Entangled is my first published novel, I wrote six practice novels before that and have been penning novellas, short stories, and articles all my life.

BW: Are there certain kinds of scenes that you find are easier to write, while others just seem to come easier?

NJ: I find kiss scenes tricky. They’re hard to pull off without sounding forced or cheesy. Heated exchanges on the other hand are my specialty. <wink>

BW: Between a vampire love interest and a werewolf love interest which do you prefer? (What team are you on? Team Vampire or Team Werewolf.)

NJ: How about something random? I once snuck three hamsters on the plane ride from Seattle to Anchorage. Two escaped. One wandered up to first class where a woman screamed and pulled her feet onto her chair. The steward had to make an announcement that a second hamster was on the loose causing hilarity to ensue. I got all my hamsters back, at least, and at the end of the flight the captain came on to say: “Please remain in your seats until we have come to a complete stop. This includes all women, children… and hamsters.” My poor mother!

Giveaway:

Entangled by Nikki Jefford

Twin witches Graylee and Charlene Perez agree on one rule: No dating warlocks.

Not so easy when a certain rogue warlock is convinced he and Graylee belong together and will use anything, including magic, to try and impress Gray. When Charlene’s boyfriend dumps her, she threatens to kill either herself or the girl who stole Blake. Somehow, Gray ends up dead.

A Resurrection Spell Gone Wrong:

Two months after dying, Gray wakes up in Charlene’s body. As a witch, can anyone blame her mother for attempting to bring her daughter back to life? Only now Gray’s stuck sharing her sister’s body 50/50 in twenty-four hour shifts.

The race is on for Gray to find a way back inside her own body before Charlene purges her from existence. Raj McKenna is rumored to meddle in the black arts, not to mention he’s after Gray’s invisibility spell and worse – her heart. But Raj might be the only one powerful enough to save Gray from fading away forever.

The giveaway includes one free ebook copy of Entangled and a beautiful Entangled book mark. This giveaway is open up internationaly!

As mentioned above the giveaway is open internationally.

Fill out the form below. (Any information collected will be promptly deleted once the winner is chosen!)

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